Method and apparatus for presenting performances of gamers

ABSTRACT

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, receiving a first group of gaming results associated with a first garner, receiving a second group of gaming results associated with a second garner, presenting renditions of first and second peripherals, where the first peripheral represents a first gaming accessory for use by the first gamer to generate a first group of stimulus signals, and where the second peripheral represents a second gaming accessory for use by the second gamer to generate a second group of stimulus signals, and presenting competitive information of the first and second garners determined from at least a portion of the first and second group of gaming results, the first and second group of stimulus signals, or combinations thereof. Additional embodiments are disclosed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/913,495, filed Jun. 9, 2013, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/412,762 filed Mar. 6, 2012 (now U.S. Pat. No.8,485,899), the disclosures of all of which are incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates generally to a method and apparatus forpresenting performances of gamers.

BACKGROUND

It is common today for gamers to utilize more than one gaming accessory.This is especially true of gamers who play on-line games or competitivegames in a team or individual configuration. Gamers can have at theirdisposal accessories such as a keyboard, a general purpose gaming pad, amouse, a gaming console controller, a headset with a built-in microphoneto communicate with other players, a joystick, a computer console, orother common gaming accessories.

A gamer can frequently use a combination of these accessories in onegame (e.g., headset, a keyboard, and mouse). Efficient management andutilization of these accessories can frequently impact a gamer's abilityto compete.

Accessory management can have utility in other disciplines which may notrelate to gaming applications. Efficient use of accessories in theseother disciplines can be important to other users.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are notnecessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a Graphical User Interface(GUI) generated by an Accessory Management Software (AMS) applicationaccording to the present disclosure;

FIGS. 2-3 depict illustrative embodiments for communicatively coupling agaming controller to a computing device;

FIG. 4 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a communication device;

FIGS. 5-7 depict methods describing illustrative embodiments of the AMSapplication;

FIG. 8 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a system operating at leastin part according to the methods of FIGS. 5-7;

FIG. 9 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a communication flowdiagram utilized by the system of FIG. 12;

FIG. 10 depicts an illustrative embodiment for highlighting functions ofan accessory;

FIGS. 11-14 depict illustrative embodiments for presenting performancesof gamers; and

FIG. 15 depicts an illustrative diagrammatic representation of a machinein the form of a computer system within which a set of instructions,when executed, may cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject disclosure describes, among other things, illustrativeembodiments for collecting, processing, cataloguing and presentingperformances of gamers. Other embodiments are contemplated by thesubject disclosure.

One embodiment of the present disclosure can entail a method fordetecting a first group of stimulus signals from a first gamingaccessory device, detecting a second group of stimulus signals from asecond gaming accessory device, generating an updated first group ofstimulus signals based on the first group of stimulus signals and afirst unique identifier assigned to the first group of stimulus signals,and generating an updated second group of stimulus signals based on thesecond group of stimulus signals and a second unique identifier assignedto the second group of stimulus signals. The method can further includetransmitting the updated first group of stimulus signals to a computingdevice executing a gaming software application for presenting a videogame, where the updated first group of stimulus signals controls thevideo game, and transmitting the updated second group of stimulussignals to the computing device, where the updated second group ofstimulus signals controls the video game.

The method can also include receiving from the computing device a firstgroup of game action results associated with the first uniqueidentifier, receiving from the computing device a second group of gameaction results associated with the second unique identifier, presentingat one or more display devices a rendition of a first virtual peripheraland a second virtual peripheral, where the first virtual peripheral is afirst graphical representation of the first gaming accessory device, andwhere the second virtual peripheral is a second graphical representationof the second gaming accessory device, presenting at the one or moredisplay devices first competitive information in association with thefirst virtual peripheral, where the first competitive information isdetermined from at least a portion of the first group of game actionresults, and presenting at the one or more display devices secondcompetitive information in association with the second virtualperipheral, where the second competitive information is determined fromat least a portion of the second group of game action results.

One embodiment of the present disclosure can entail a server having amemory for storing computer instructions, and at least one processorcoupled to the memory. When executing the computer instructions, the atleast one processor can perform operations including receiving a firstgroup of game action results from a computing device that executes agaming software application that presents a video game, where the firstgroup of game action results are received responsive to a first group ofstimulus signals caused by a first gaming accessory device forcontrolling the video game, receiving a second group of game actionresults from the computing device, where the second group of game actionresults are received responsive to a second group of stimulus signalscaused by a second gaming accessory device for controlling the videogame. When executing the computer instructions the at least oneprocessor can also perform operations comprising presenting at one ormore display devices first competitive information in association with arendition of a first virtual peripheral, where the first virtualperipheral is a first graphical representation of the first gamingaccessory device, and where the first competitive information isdetermined from at least one of the first group of game action results,the first group of stimulus signals, the second group of game actionresults, the second group of stimulus signals, or combinations thereof,and presenting at the one or more display devices second competitiveinformation in association with a rendition of a second virtualperipheral, where the second virtual peripheral is a second graphicalrepresentation of the second gaming accessory device, and where thesecond competitive information is determined from at least one of thefirst group of game action results, the first group of stimulus signals,the second group of game action results, the second group of stimulussignals, or combinations thereof.

One embodiment of the present disclosure can entail a computer-readablestorage medium having computer instructions, which when executed by oneor more processors, cause the one or more processors to performoperations including receiving a first group of gaming resultsassociated with a first gamer, where the first group of gaming resultsare received responsive to a first group of stimulus signals transmittedto control a video game, receiving a second group of gaming resultsassociated with a second gamer, where the second group of gaming resultsare received responsive to a second group of stimulus signalstransmitted to control the video game, presenting renditions of firstand second peripherals, where the first peripheral represents a firstgaming accessory for use by the first gamer to generate the first groupof stimulus signals, and where the second peripheral represents a secondgaming accessory for use by the second gamer to generate the secondgroup of stimulus signals, and presenting competitive information of thefirst and second gamers determined from at least a portion of the firstand second group of gaming results, the first and second group ofstimulus signals, or combinations thereof.

One embodiment of the present disclosure can entail a method fordetecting a first group of stimulus signals from a first gamingaccessory device, detecting a second group of stimulus signals from asecond gaming accessory device, presenting at one or more displaydevices a rendition of a first virtual peripheral and a second virtualperipheral, where the first virtual peripheral is a first graphicalrepresentation of the first gaming accessory device, and where thesecond virtual peripheral is a second graphical representation of thesecond gaming accessory device, presenting at the one or more displaydevices first competitive information in association with the firstvirtual peripheral, where the first competitive information isdetermined from at least a portion of the first group of stimulussignals, and presenting at the one or more display devices secondcompetitive information in association with the second virtualperipheral, where the second competitive information is determined fromat least a portion of the second group of stimulus signals.

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a Graphical User Interface(GUI) generated by an Accessory Management Software (AMS) applicationaccording to the present disclosure. The AMS application can be executedby a computing device such as a desktop computer, a laptop computer, aserver, a mainframe computer, a gaming console, a gaming accessory, orcombinations or portions thereof. The AMS application can also beexecuted by portable computing devices (with computing resources) suchas a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant, or a media player(such as an iPOD™). It is contemplated that the AMS application can beexecuted by any device with suitable computing resources.

FIG. 2 illustrates a number of embodiments for utilizing a wirelessdongle 203 with gaming controller 115 or a gaming console (hereinreferred to as gaming console 206). In the illustration of FIG. 2, theUSB portion of the dongle 203 can be physically engaged with the gamingcontroller 115 or the gaming console 206. The dongle 203 in either ofthese configurations can facilitate wireless communications 204 betweenthe gaming controller 115 and the gaming console 206 (e.g., WiFi,Bluetooth, ZigBee, or proprietary protocol). It is contemplated thatfunctions of the dongle 203 can in whole or in part be an integral partof the gaming controller 115 or the gaming console 206. It is alsocontemplated that the AMS application can in whole or in part beexecuted by computing resources of the dongle 203.

In one embodiment, the gaming controller 115 can be tethered to acomputer computing device such as the gaming console 206 by a cable(e.g., USB cable) as shown in FIG. 3 to provide a means of communicationless susceptible to electromagnetic interference or other sources ofwireless interference. In one embodiment, the gaming controller 115 andthe gaming console 206 can have an integrated wireless interface forwireless communications therebetween. It is contemplated that the AMSapplication can in whole or in part be executed by computing resourcesof the gaming controller 115, the gaming console 206, or combinationsthereof.

FIG. 4 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a communication device 400.Communication device 400 can serve in whole or in part as anillustrative embodiment of the devices depicted in FIGS. 1-3. Thecommunication device 400 can comprise a wireline and/or wirelesstransceiver 402 (herein transceiver 402), a user interface (UI) 404, apower supply 414, a proximity sensor 416, a motion sensor 418, anorientation sensor 420, and a controller 406 for managing operationsthereof. The transceiver 402 can support short-range or long-rangewireless access technologies such as Bluetooth, WiFi, Digital EnhancedCordless Telecommunications (DECT), or cellular communicationtechnologies, just to mention a few. Cellular technologies can include,for example, CDMA-1X, UMTS/HSDPA, GSM/GPRS, TDMA/EDGE, EV/DO, WiMAX,software defined radio (SDR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), as well asother next generation wireless communication technologies as they arise.The transceiver 402 can also be adapted to support circuit-switchedwireline access technologies (such as PSTN), packet-switched wirelineaccess technologies (such as TCP/IP, VoIP, etc.), and combinationsthereof.

The UI 404 can include a depressible or touch-sensitive keypad 408coupled to a navigation mechanism such as a roller ball, a joystick, amouse, or a navigation disk for manipulating operations of thecommunication device 400. The keypad 408 can be an integral part of ahousing assembly of the communication device 400 or an independentdevice operably coupled thereto by a tethered wireline interface (suchas a USB cable) or a wireless interface supporting for exampleBluetooth. The keypad 408 can represent a numeric keypad, and/or aQWERTY keypad with alphanumeric keys. The UI 404 can further include adisplay 410 such as monochrome or color LCD (Liquid Crystal Display),OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) or other suitable display technologyfor conveying images to an end user of the communication device 400.

In an embodiment where the display 410 is touch-sensitive, a portion orall of the keypad 408 can be presented by way of the display 410 withnavigation features (e.g., an iPad™, iPhone™, or Android™ phone ortablet). As a touch screen display, the communication device 400 can beadapted to present a user interface with graphical user interface (GUI)elements that can be selected by a user with a touch of a finger. Thetouch screen display 410 can be equipped with capacitive, resistive orother forms of sensing technology to detect how much surface area of auser's finger has been placed on a portion of the touch screen display.This sensing information can be used to control the manipulation of theGUI elements.

The UI 404 can also include an audio system 412 that utilizes commonaudio technology for conveying low volume audio (such as audio heardonly in the proximity of a human ear) and high volume audio (such asspeakerphone for hands free operation, stereo or surround sound system).The audio system 412 can further include a microphone for receivingaudible signals of an end user. The audio system 412 can also be usedfor voice recognition applications. The UI 404 can further include animage sensor 413 such as a charged coupled device (CCD) camera forcapturing still or moving images and performing image recognitiontherefrom.

The power supply 414 can utilize common power management technologiessuch as replaceable or rechargeable batteries, supply regulationtechnologies, and charging system technologies for supplying energy tothe components of the communication device 400 to facilitate long-rangeor short-range portable applications. Alternatively, the charging systemcan utilize external power sources such as DC power supplied over aphysical interface such as a USB port or by way of a power cord attachedto a transformer that converts AC to DC power.

The proximity sensor 416 can utilize proximity sensing technology suchas a electromagnetic sensor, a capacitive sensor, an inductive sensor,an image sensor or combinations thereof. The motion sensor 418 canutilize motion sensing technology such as an accelerometer, a gyroscope,or other suitable motion sensing technology to detect movement of thecommunication device 400 in three-dimensional space. The orientationsensor 420 can utilize orientation sensing technology such as amagnetometer to detect the orientation of the communication device 400(North, South, West, East, combined orientations thereof in degrees,minutes, or other suitable orientation metrics).

The communication device 400 can use the transceiver 402 to alsodetermine a proximity to a cellular, WiFi, Bluetooth, or other wirelessaccess points by common sensing techniques such as utilizing a receivedsignal strength indicator (RSSI) and/or a signal time of arrival (TOA)or time of flight (TOF). The controller 406 can utilize computingtechnologies such as a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP),and/or a video processor with associated storage memory such as Flash,ROM, RAM, SRAM, DRAM or other storage technologies.

Other components not shown in FIG. 4 are contemplated by the presentdisclosure. For instance, the communication device 400 can include areset button (not shown). The reset button can be used to reset thecontroller 406 of the communication device 400. In yet anotherembodiment, the communication device 400 can also include a factorydefault setting button positioned below a small hole in a housingassembly of the communication device 400 to force the communicationdevice 400 to re-establish factory settings. In this embodiment, a usercan use a protruding object such as a pen or paper clip tip to reachinto the hole and depress the default setting button.

The communication device 400 as described herein can operate with moreor less components described in FIG. 4 to accommodate the implementationof the devices described by the present disclosure. These variantembodiments are contemplated by the present disclosure.

FIGS. 5-7 depict methods 500-700 describing illustrative embodiments ofthe AMS application. Method 500 can begin with step 502 in which the AMSapplication is invoked in a computing device. The computing device canbe a remote server (not shown), the gaming console 206 of FIGS. 2-3, orany other computing device with suitable computing resources. Theinvocation step can result from a user selection of the AMS applicationfrom a menu or iconic symbol presented on a desktop of the computingdevice by an operating system (OS) managing operations thereof. In step504, the AMS application can detect by way of drivers in the OS aplurality of operationally distinct accessories communicatively coupledto the computing device. The accessories can be coupled to the computingdevice by a tethered interface (e.g., USB cable), a wireless interface(e.g., Bluetooth or Wireless Fidelity—WiFi), or combinations thereof.

In the present context, an accessory can represent any type of devicewhich can be communicatively coupled to the computing device (or anintegral part of the computing device) and which can control aspects ofthe OS and/or a software application operating in the computing device.An accessory can represent for example a keyboard, a touch screendisplay, a gaming pad, a gaming controller, a mouse, a joystick, amicrophone, or a headset with a microphone—just to mention a few.

In step 506, the AMS application presents a GUI 101 such as depicted inFIG. 1 with operationally distinct accessories such as a keyboard 108,and a gaming controller 115. The GUI 101 presents the accessories108-116 in a scrollable section 117. One or more accessories can beselected by a user with a mouse pointer. In this illustration, thekeyboard 108 and the gaming controller 115 were selected forcustomization. Upon selecting the keyboard 108 and the gaming controller115 from the scrollable window of section 117, the AMS applicationpresents the keyboard 108 and the gaming controller 115 in split windows118, 120, respectively, to assist the user during the customizationprocess.

In step 508, the AMS application can be programmed to detect auser-selection of a particular software application such as a game. Thisstep can be the result of the user entering in a Quick Search field 160the name of a gaming application (e.g., World of Warcraft™ or WoW). Uponidentifying a gaming application, the AMS application can retrieve instep 510 from a remote or local database gaming application actionswhich can be presented in a scrollable section 139 of the GUIrepresented as “Actions” 130. The actions can be tactical actions 132,communication actions 134, menu actions 136, and movement actions 138which can be used to invoke and manage features of the gamingapplication.

The actions presented descriptively in section 130 of the GUI canrepresent a sequence of accessory input functions which a user canstimulate by button depressions, navigation or speech. For example,depressing the left button on the mouse 110 can represent the tacticalaction “Reload”, while the simultaneous keyboard depressions “Ctrl A”can represent the tactical action “Melee Attack”. For ease of use, the“Actions” 130 section of the GUI is presented descriptively rather thanby a description of the input function(s) of a particular accessory.

Any one of the Actions 130 can be associated with one or more inputfunctions of the accessories being customized in windows 118 and 120 byway of a drag and drop action or other customization options. Forinstance, a user can select a “Melee Attack” by placing a mouse pointer133 over an iconic symbol associated with this action. Upon doing so,the symbol can be highlighted to indicate to the user that the icon isselectable. At this point, the user can select the icon by holding theleft mouse button and drag the symbol to any of the input functions(e.g., buttons) of the keyboard 108 or selectable options of the gamingcontroller 115 to make an association with an input function of one ofthese accessories. Actions of one accessory can also be associated withanother accessory that is of a different category. For example, keydepressions “Ctrl A” of the key board 108 can be associated with one ofthe buttons of the gaming controller 115 (e.g., the left button 119).

In one embodiment, a Melee Attack action can be associated by draggingthis action to either the left button 119 or right button 120 of thegaming controller 115. Thus, when the selected button is depressed, thestimulus signal that is generated by the selected button of the gamingcontroller 115 can be substituted by the AMS application with the MeleeAttack action. In another embodiment, the Melee Action can be associatedwith a combination of key button presses (e.g., simultaneous depressionof the left and right buttons 119, 121, or a sequence of buttondepressions: two rapid left button depressions followed by a rightbutton depression).

In yet another embodiment, the Melee Action can be associated withmovement of the gaming controller 115 such as, for example, rapidmovement or shaking of the gaming controller 115. In a furtherembodiment, the AMS application can be adapted to make associations withtwo dimensional or three dimensional movements of the gaming controller115 according to a gaming venue state. For example, suppose the player'savatar enters a fighter jet. In this gaming venue state, moving the leftnavigation knob forward can be associated by the AMS application withcontrolling the throttle of the jet engines. Rapidly moving the gamingcontroller 115 downward can represent release of munitions such as abomb.

In a gaming venue state where the gamer's avatar has entered a building,lifting of the gaming controller 115 above a first displacementthreshold can be associated with a rapid movement of the avatar up onefloor. A second displacement threshold can be associated with a rapidmovement of the avatar down one floor—the opposite of the firstdisplacement threshold. Alternatively, the second displacement thresholdcould be associated with a different action such as jumping betweenbuildings when the avatar is on the roof of a building.

The AMS application can associate standard stimuli generated bymanipulating a gaming accessory with substitute stimuli that controlgaming actions of a video game. The AMS application can be adapted toperform these associations based on a gaming venue state such as theones described above. Accordingly, the associations made between stimulisupplied by an accessory such as the gaming controller 115 can be venuestate dependent. The gaming venue state can be a description of a gamingstate (e.g., entering a tank which requires the use of gaming controlsfor a tank), captured images of the gaming venue state (e.g., one ormore still images of a tank, or a video of an avatar entering a tank),and/or application programming instructions (API) messages which can bereceived from the gaming application to enable the AMS application toidentify the occurrence of a particular gaming venue state.

At step 512 the AMS application can also respond to a user selection ofa profile. A profile can be a device profile or master profile invokedby selecting GUI button 156 or 158, each of which can identify theassociation of gaming actions with input functions of one or moreaccessories. If a profile selection is detected in step 512, the AMSapplication can retrieve in step 514 macro(s) and/or prior associationsdefined by the profile. The actions and/or macros defined in the profilecan also be presented in step 516 by the AMS application in the actionscolumn 130 of the GUI 101 to modify existing profile associations orcreate new associations.

In step 518, the AMS application can also respond to a user selection tocreate a macro. A macro in the present context can mean any actionablecommand which can be recorded by the AMS application. An actionablecommand can represent a sequence of stimuli generated by manipulatinginput functions of an accessory, a combination of actions in the Actionsection 130, an identification of a software application to be initiatedby an operating system (OS), or any other recordable stimulus toinitiate, control or manipulate software applications. For instance, amacro can represent a user entering the identity of a softwareapplication (e.g., instant messaging tool) to be initiated by an OS uponthe AMS application detecting through speech recognition a speechcommand.

A macro can also represent recordable speech delivered by a microphonesingly or in combination with a headset for detection by anothersoftware application through speech recognition or for delivery of therecorded speech to other parties. In yet another embodiment a macro canrepresent recordable navigation of an accessory such as a joystick ofthe gaming controller 115, recordable selections of buttons of thegaming controller 115, and so on. Macros can also be combinations of theabove illustrations with selected actions from the Actions 130 menu.Macros can be created from the GUI 101 by selecting a “Record Macro”button 148. The macro can be given a name and category in user-definedfields 140 and 142.

Upon selecting the Record Macro button 148, a macro can be generated byselection of input functions on an accessory (e.g., Ctrl A, speech,navigation knob movements of the gaming controller 115, etc.) and/or bymanual entry in field 144 (e.g., typing the name and location of asoftware application to be initiated by an OS, such as an instantmessaging application, keyboard entries such as Ctrl A, etc.). Once themacro is created, it can be tested by selecting button 150 which canrepeat the sequence specified in field 144. The clone button 152 can beselected to replicate the macro sequence if desired. Fields 152 can alsopresent timing characteristics of the stimulation sequence in the macrowith the ability to modify and thereby customize the timing of one ormore stimulations in the stimulation sequence. Once the macro has beenfully defined, selection of button 154 records the macro in step 520.The recording step can be combined with a step for adding the macro tothe associable items Actions column 130, thereby providing the user themeans to associate the macro with input functions of the accessories(e.g., one or more keys of the keyboard 108, buttons of the gamingcontroller 115, etc.).

In step 522, the AMS application can respond to drag and dropassociations of actions and input functions of the keyboard 108 or thegaming controller 115. Associations can also be made based on the two orthree dimensional movements of the gaming controller 115. If user inputindicates that a user is performing an association, the AMS applicationcan proceed to step 524 where it can determine if a profile has beenidentified in step 512 to record the association(s) detected. If aprofile has been identified, the associations are recorded/stored in theprofile in step 526. If a profile has not been identified in step 512,the AMS application can create a profile in step 528 for recording thedetected associations. In the same step, the user can name the newlycreated profile as desired. The newly created profile can also beassociated with one or more gaming software applications in step 530 forfuture reference. The AMS application can also record in a profile instep 526 associations based on gaming venue states. In this embodimentthe same stimuli generated by the gaming controller 115 can result indifferent substitutions based on the gaming venue state detected by theAMS application.

The AMS application can be adapted to utilize image processingtechnology to detect a gaming venue state according to pre-stored imagesor video clips stored in the profile. For example, the AMS applicationcan use image processing technology to identify an avatar of a gamer andtrack what the avatar does as directed by the gamer. For example, if theavatar enters a tank, the image processing technology of the AMSapplication can detect a gaming venue state associated with the use of atank, and thereby identify associations between accessory stimuli andsubstitute stimuli according to the detected gaming venue state.

Referring back to step 526, once the associations have been recorded ina profile, the AMS application can determine in step 532 which of theaccessories shown illustratively in FIGS. 1-3 are programmable andavailable for programming. If the AMS application detects that theaccessories (e.g., keyboard 108, gaming controller 115) arecommunicatively coupled to a computing device from which the AMSapplication is operating (e.g., gaming console 306) and programmable,the AMS application can proceed to step 534 of FIG. 5 where it submitsthe profile and its contents for storage in one of the accessories(e.g., the gaming controller 115 in FIGS. 2-3) or the dongle 203. Oncethe gaming controller 115, dongle 303, or combinations thereof areprogrammed with the profile, such devices can perform stimulisubstitutions according to the associations recorded by the AMSapplication in the profile. Alternatively, the AMS application can storethe profile in the computing device 206 of FIGS. 2-3 and performsubstitutions of stimuli supplied by the gaming controller 115 accordingto associations recorded in the profile by the AMS application.

The GUI 101 of FIG. 1 presented by the AMS application can have otherfunctions. For example, the GUI 101 can provide options for layout ofthe accessory selected (button 122), how the keyboard is illuminatedwhen associations between input functions and actions are made (button134), and configuration options for the accessory (button 126). The AMSapplication can adapt the GUI 101 to present more than one functionalGUI page. For instance, by selecting button 102, the AMS application canadapt the GUI 101 to present a means to create macros and associateactions to accessory input functions as depicted in FIG. 1. Selectingbutton 104 can cause the AMS application to adapt the GUI 101 to presentstatistics from stimulation information and/or gaming action resultscaptured by the AMS application. Selecting button 106 can also cause theAMS application to adapt the GUI 101 to present promotional offers andsoftware updates.

The steps of method 500 in whole or in part can be repeated until adesirable pattern is achieved of associations between stimulus signalsgenerated by accessories and substitute stimuli. It would be apparent toan artisan with ordinary skill in the art that there can be numerousother approaches to accomplish the embodiments described by method 500or variants thereof. These undisclosed approaches are contemplated bythe present disclosure.

FIG. 6 depicts a method 600 for illustrating the operations of the AMSapplication for either of the configurations shown in FIGS. 2-3. In theconfigurations of FIGS. 2-3, the AMS application can be operating inwhole or in part from the gaming controller 115, the dongle 203, thegaming console 206, a remote server (not shown), or a computing devicesuch as a desktop computer (also not shown). For illustration purposes,it is assumed the AMS application operates from the gaming console 206.Method 600 can begin with the AMS application establishingcommunications in steps 602 and 604 between the gaming console 206 and agaming accessory such as the gaming controller 115, and a headset 114such as shown in FIG. 1. These steps can represent for example a userstarting the AMS application from the gaming console 206 and/or the userinserting at a USB port of the gaming console 206 a connector of a USBcable tethered to the gaming controller 115, which invokes the AMSapplication. In step 606, the gaming controller 115 and/or headset 114can in turn provide the AMS application one or more accessory ID's, orthe user can provide by way of a keyboard or the gaming controller 115user identification. With the accessory ID's, or user input the AMSapplication can identify in step 608 a user account associated with thegaming controller 115 and/or headset 114. In step 610, the AMSapplication can retrieve one or more profiles associated with the useraccount.

In step 612, the user can be presented by way of a display coupled tothe gaming console 206 profiles available to the user to choose from. Ifthe user makes a selection, the AMS application proceeds to step 614where it retrieves from the selected profiles the association(s) storedtherein. If a selection is not made, the AMS application can proceed tostep 616 where it can determine whether a software gaming application(e.g., video game) is operating from the gaming console 206 or whetherthe gaming console 206 is communicating with the software gamingapplication by way of a remote system communicatively coupled to thegaming console 206 (e.g., on-line gaming server(s) presenting, forexample, World of Warcraft™). If a gaming software application isdetected, the AMS application proceeds to step 617 where it retrieves aprofile that matches the gaming application detected and theassociation(s) contained in the profile. As noted earlier,association(s) can represent accessory stimulations, navigation, speech,the invocation of other software applications, macros or other forms ofsuitable associations that result in substitute stimulations. Theaccessory stimulations can be stimulations that are generated by thegaming controller 115, as well as stimulations from other accessories(e.g., headset 114), or combinations thereof.

Once a profile and its contents have been retrieved in either of steps614 or step 617, the AMS application can proceed to step 719 of FIG. 7where it monitors for a change in a gaming venue state based on thepresentations made by the gaming application, or API messages suppliedby the gaming application. At the start of a game, for example, thegaming venue state can be determined immediately depending on the gamingoptions chosen by the gamer. The AMS application can determine thegaming venue state by tracking the gaming options chosen by a gamer,receiving an API instruction from the gaming application, or byperforming image processing on the video presentation generated by thegaming application. For example, the AMS application can detect that thegamer has directed an avatar to enter a tank. The AMS application canretrieve in step 719 associations for the gaming controller 115 forcontrolling the tank.

The AMS application can process movements of the gaming controller 115forwards, backwards, or sideways in two or three dimensions to controlthe tanks movement. Similarly, rotating the gaming controller 115 ortilting the gaming controller 115 forward can cause an accelerometer,gyro or magnetometer of the gaming controller 115 to providenavigational data to the AMS application which can be substituted withan action to cause the tank to turn and/or move forward. The profileretrieved by the AMS application can indicate that the greater theforward tilt of the gaming controller 115, the greater the speed of thetank should be moving forward. Similarly, a rear tilt can generatenavigation data that is substituted with a reverse motion and/ordeceleration of the forward motion to stop or slow down the tank. Athree dimensional lift of the mouse can cause the tank to steeraccording to the three dimensional navigation data provided by thegaming controller 115. For example, navigation data associated with acombination of a forward tilt and right bank of the gaming controller115 can be substituted by the AMS application to cause an increase inforward speed of the tank with a turn to the right determined by the AMSapplication according to a degree of banking of the gaming controller115 to the right. In the above embodiment, the three dimensionalnavigation data allows a gamer to control any directional vector of thetank including speed, direction, acceleration and deceleration.

In another illustration, the AMS application can detect a new gamingvenue state as a result of the gamer directing the avatar to leave thetank and travel on foot. Once again the AMS application retrieves instep 719 associations related to the gaming venue state. In thisembodiment, selection of buttons of the gaming controller 115 can beassociated by the AMS application with weaponry selection, firing,reloading and so on. The movement of the gaming controller 115 in two orthree dimensions can control the direction of the avatar and/orselection or use of weaponry. Once the gaming venue state is detected instep 719, the AMS application retrieves the associations related to thevenue state, and can perform substitutions of stimuli generated by thegaming controller 115, and/or speech commands received by microphone ofthe headset 114.

The AMS application can monitor in step 720 stimulations generated bythe accessories coupled to the gaming console 206. The stimulations canbe generated by the gamer by manipulating the gaming controller 115,and/or by generating speech commands detected by the headset 114. If asimulation is detected at step 720, the AMS application can determine instep 722 whether to forward the detected stimulation(s) to an OperatingSystem (OS) of the gaming console 206 without substitutions. Thisdetermination can be made by comparing the detected stimulation(s) toassociation in the profile. If the detected stimulation(s) match theassociations, then the AMS application proceeds to step 740 where itretrieves substitute stimulation(s) in the profile. In step 742, the AMSapplication can substitute the detected stimulation(s) with thesubstitute stimulations in the profile. In one embodiment, the AMSapplication can track in step 744 the substitute stimulations byupdating these stimulations with a unique identifier such as a globallyunique identifier (GUID). In this embodiment, the AMS application canalso add a time stamp to each substitute stimulation to track when thesubstitution was performed.

In another embodiment, the AMS application can track each substitutestimulation according to its order of submission to the gamingapplication. For instance, sequence numbers can be generated for thesubstitute stimulations to track the order in which they were submittedto the gaming application. In this embodiment, the substitutestimulations do not need to be updated with sequence numbers oridentifiers so long as the order of gaming action results submitted bythe gaming application to the AMS application remain in the same orderas the substitute stimulations were originally submitted.

For example, if a first stimulation sent to the gaming application bythe AMS application is a command to shoot, and a second stimulation sentto the gaming application is a command to shoot again, then so long asthe gaming application provides a first a game action result for thefirst shot, followed by a game action result for the second shot, thenthe substitute stimulations will not require updating with sequencenumbers since the game action results are reported in the order that thestimulations were sent. If on the other hand, the game action resultscan be submitted out of order, then updating the stimulations withsequence numbers or another suitable identifier would be required toenable the AMS application to properly track and correlate stimulationsand corresponding gaming action results.

Once the stimulations received in step 720 have been substituted withother stimulations in step 742, and the AMS application has chosen aproper tracking methodology for correlating gaming action results withstimulations, the AMS application can proceed to step 748 and submit thesubstitute stimulations to the OS of the gaming console 206. If in step722 the detected stimulation(s) do not match an association in theprofile, then the AMS application proceeds to one of steps 744 or 746 inorder to track the stimulations of the accessory. Once the AMSapplication has performed the necessary steps to track the stimulationas originally generated by the accessory, the AMS application proceedsto step 748 where it submits stimulations (with or withoutsubstitutions) to the OS of the gaming console 206 with or withouttracking information as previously described.

In step 734, the OS determines whether to invoke in step 736 a softwareapplication identified in the stimulation(s) (e.g., gamer says “turn onteam chat”, which invokes a chat application), whether to forward thereceived stimulations to the gaming software application in step 738, orcombinations thereof. Contemporaneous to the embodiments describedabove, the AMS application can monitor in step 750 for game actionresults supplied by the gaming application via a defined API. The gameaction results can be messages sent by the gaming application by way ofthe API of the gaming application to inform the AMS application what hashappened as a result of the stimulations sent in step 738. For instance,suppose the stimulation sent to the gaming application in step 738 is acommand to shoot a pistol. The gaming application can determine that theshot fired resulted in a miss of a target. The gaming application canrespond with a message which is submitted by way of the API to the AMSapplication that indicates the shot fired resulted in a miss. If IDssuch as GUIDs were sent with each stimulation, the gaming applicationcan submit game action results with their corresponding GUID to enablethe AMS application to correlate the gaming action results withstimulations having the same GUID.

For example, if the command to shoot included the ID “1234”, then thegame action result indicating a miss will include the ID “1234”, whichthe AMS application can use in step 752 to identify the stimulationhaving the same ID. If on other hand, the order of game action resultscan be maintained consistent with the order of the stimulations, thenthe AMS application can correlate in step 754 stimulations with gameaction results by the order in which stimulation were submitted and theorder in which game action results were received. In step 756, the AMSapplication can catalogue stimulations and game action results. Inanother embodiment, the AMS application can be adapted to catalogue thestimulations in step 760. In this embodiment, step 760 can be performedas an alternative to steps 750 through 756. In another embodiment, step760 can be performed in combination with steps 750 through 756 in orderto generate a catalogue of stimulations, and a catalogue for gamingaction results correlated to the stimulations.

FIGS. 8-9 illustrate embodiments of a system with a correspondingcommunication flow diagram for correlating stimulations and gamingaction results. In this illustration a user clicks the left button 119of the gaming controller 115. The gaming controller 115 can includefirmware (or circuitry), which creates an event as depicted by event 2in FIG. 8. The button depression and the event creation are depicted inFIG. 9 as steps 902 and 904. In step 904, the firmware of the gamingcontroller 115 can, for example, generate an event type “left button#3”, and a unique GUID with a time stamp which is submitted to the AMSapplication. Referring back to FIG. 8, the AMS application cataloguesevent 3, and if a substitute stimulation has been predefined, remaps theevent according to the substitution. The remapped event is thentransmitted to the gaming application at event 4. Event 3 of FIG. 8 isdepicted as step 906 in FIG. 9. In this illustration, the AMSapplication substitutes the left button #3 depression stimulus with a“keyboard ‘F’” depression which can be interpreted by the gamingapplication as a fire command. The AMS application in this illustrationcontinues to use the same GUID, but substitutes the time stamp foranother time stamp to identify when the substitution took place.

Referring back to event 4, the gaming application processes the eventand sends back at event 5 a game action result to the AMS applicationwhich is processed by the AMS application at event 6. The AMSapplication then submits the results to the accessory at event 7. Events4 and 5 are depicted as step 908 in FIG. 9. In this step, the gamingapplication processes “F” as an action to fire the gamer's gun, and thendetermines from the action the result from logistical gaming resultsgenerated by the gaming application. In the present illustration, theaction of firing resulted in a hit. The gaming application submits tothe AMS application the result type “Hit” with a new time stamp, whileutilizing the same GUID for tracking purposes. At step 910, the AMSapplication correlates the stimulation “left button #3 (and/or thesubstitute stimulation keyboard “F”) to the game result “Hit” andcatalogues them in memory. The AMS application then submits to theaccessory (e.g., gaming controller 115) in step 910 the game actionresults “Hit” with the same GUID, and a new time stamp indicating whenthe result was received. Upon receiving the message from the AMSapplication, the accessory in step 912 processes the “Hit” by assertinga red LED on the accessory (e.g., left button 119 illuminates in red orother LED of the gaming controller 115 illuminates in red) to indicate ahit. Other notification notices can be used such as another color forthe LED to indicate misses, a specific sound for a hit, or kill, avibration or other suitable technique for notifying the gamer of thegame action result.

The AMS application can catalogue results as shown in FIGS. 11-14. Thepresentation of the catalogued results can be based on a live session,or a replay session when reviewing segments of a video game much like areplay session of a sporting event (e.g., football game) is analyzed bysports analysts. To assist the audience in viewing a competition betweengamers, the AMS application can be adapted to present a virtualperipheral representative of the accessory of each gamer as shown inFIGS. 11-14.

The AMS application can be adapted to use coloring and highlight schemesto indicate when a function (e.g., a button or navigation knob) of theperipheral is being used as shown in FIG. 10. For example, the colorcode “dark red” can represent a button or knob that is frequently inuse, while a color code of “dark blue” can represent a button or knobthat is infrequently used. To indicate when a button or knob is in use,the button or knob can be highlighted with a white outline while theunused buttons can remain unhighlighted. In the case of knobs, which canbe moved omnidirectionally, the AMS application can show movements of ahighlighted knob as the gamer is utilizing the knob based on thestimulations received by the AMS application.

For example, if a gamer moves a knob in a northwest direction, the knobis highlighted with a white outline, and the knob is shown moving in thedirection chosen by the gamer. As buttons are being depressed andreleased rapidly, the AMS application will present rapid transitioningbetween the enabling and disabling of highlights to indicate the speedthat the gamer is depressing and releasing the buttons. As the frequencyof depressions of buttons or use of knobs increases, the AMS applicationwill change the color code of the buttons or knobs as described above tosignify frequency of use of the buttons and knobs.

In an embodiment where the AMS application receives gaming results froma gaming application via an API as described above, the communicationflow diagram shown in FIG. 9 can be modified with a more comprehensiveprotocol that includes a weapon type being monitored, misses, non-killhits (i.e., a hit that does not result in a kill), kill hits, and lossof life rate.

The AMS application can present performance factors of each gamer, andthe type of weapons being tracked (e.g., sniper rifle, machine gun, handgun) as shown in FIGS. 11-12. To identify which weapon is being used atany point in time during a gaming session, the AMS application canhighlight the weapon in a distinguishable color such as blue whilekeeping all other weapon rows in gray. The AMS application can calculatean average hit rate from the misses, non-kill hits, and kill hits. TheAMS application can compare gaming action results between the gamers toidentifying leading performance factors as shown in the “Comp Rating”column of each player. In a tournament setting, the performance factorsshown in FIGS. 11 and 12 can be shown in side-by-side monitors, ortogether in a JumboTron™ display such as those used in sporting eventsor the like.

As the gamer is competing, the input functions of the gaming controller115 can be highlighted and moved (in the case of knobs) to show theaudience how the gaming controller 115 is being used by the gamer. Thehealth of the gamer's avatar can be shown below the gaming controller115. To further enhance the experience for the audience, the gamer'simage can be shown as a video clip during the competition. The AMSapplication can also be adapted to present a portion of the video gameassociated with each gamer as shown in FIGS. 11-12.

In an embodiment where the gaming application does not provide gamingaction results (e.g., the video gaming application does not provide anAPI), the AMS application can be adapted to present a gamer'sperformance based on the stimulus signals generated, and whereapplicable, the substitute stimulus signals submitted to the gamingapplication as shown in FIGS. 13-14. In this illustration, the virtualperipherals are shown with the color scheme and highlights discussedearlier. The performance of the gamers can be presented according to thetype of weapons used, the key depressions invoking substitutions, themacros invoked, and the rate of transmission of stimuli to the gamingapplication.

For example, for gamer #1, the simultaneous depression of the up anddown arrows invoked the macro team chat, while using the sniper rifle.The gamer shot the rifle 14 times with 4 shots in rapid succession. Upondepressing the left “1” button of a front section of the gamingcontroller 115 of gamer #1, the AMS application invoked substitutestimuli transmitted to the gaming application which switches the use ofthe sniper rifle to the machine gun. A subsequent depression of the samebutton can cause a substitute stimuli generated by the AMS applicationto return to the sniper rifle. A depression of the right “1” button bygamer #1 resulted in substitute stimuli generated by the AMS applicationto call for air support. Gamer #2 shows that s/he has not invoked asubstitute stimuli for the machine gun. This may be because the gamerhas not pre-programmed the AMS application to associate stimuligenerated by the gaming controller 115 with substitute stimuli, orbecause the gamer has chosen not to invoke substitute stimuli with aparticular key depression (or sequence of key depressions).

Although not shown, monitoring stimuli generation and substitutes can beused to rate players' performances. For example, a gamer that has atendency to perform rapid fire on a machine gun without savingammunition may be viewed as a poor game tactic. Comparing suchstatistics between gamers can be used to show performance lead factorsbetween the gamers.

From the foregoing descriptions, it would be evident to an artisan withordinary skill in the art that the aforementioned embodiments can bemodified, reduced, or enhanced without departing from the scope andspirit of the claims described below.

For instance, the AMS application can record stimulus signals and/orgaming results for a game session and store this data for an extendedperiod of time for each of a plurality of gamers. In addition, the AMSapplication can store multiple recorded game sessions for each gamer andcan be adapted to compare a history of game sessions to assess how eachgamer's performance has evolved. Each gamer's improvement or degradationdetected by the AMS application over a number of gaming sessions can bereported to the gamer and/or other gamers as progression line charts,histograms, pie charts or other suitable presentation methods. Theresults can also be reported in a gaming tournament, on-line games, orother suitable setting in a manner similar to the illustrations of FIGS.11-14.

The AMS application can compare a gamer's performance in a particulargame to a gaming session recorded from a prior tournament for the samegame or another game. Performance in the present context can mean acomparison of only stimulus signals (e.g., accessory-generated stimulussignals and/or substitute stimulus signals). This embodiment may beuser-selectable (i.e., user selects stimulus analysis only) by way of aGUI presented by the AMS application, or the AMS application may applythis embodiment automatically in instances where the AMS applicationdoes not receive gaming action results from the gaming application dueto a lack of an API or other suitable interface to receive gaming actionresults from the gaming application. Performance can also mean acomparison of only gaming action results and not stimulus signals, whichcan also be a user-selectable feature presented by a GUI generated bythe AMS application. Performance can further represent a combination ofgaming action results and stimulus signals with similar data of otherrecorded gaming sessions. In sum, a gamer's performance can bedetermined from stimulus signals (with or without substitute stimulussignals), and/or gaming action results in whole or on part monitored bythe AMS application.

For any one of the foregoing embodiments, the AMS application can detectimprovements or degradations in performance between a present tournamentgame and the previously recorded tournament game and report the resultsto the gamer and/or an audience of on-line gamers or a public audienceat a tournament via the monitors of FIGS. 11-14. The foregoingembodiments can be applied in a private setting (i.e., only visible tothe gamer) and/or a social network of gamers who share and presentresults via the AMS application or a social network such as FaceBook™ orother suitable social network platform.

In yet another embodiment, the AMS application can be adapted to comparea gamer's performance to another gamer's recorded performance. In atournament setting, for example, the gamers' performance can be comparedto each other based on the present gaming session or prior recordedsessions of the other gamer. In one embodiment, the AMS application canbe adapted to present a GUI where it presents a list of gamers andrecorded sessions from each gamer. The GUI can enable a user to select aparticular gamer and a particular recorded gaming session of theselected gamer for comparison to a recorded (or live) gaming session ofthe user making the selection or another gamer of interest to the user(e.g., comparing the performance of two professional gamers).

It should be noted that gaming sessions recorded by the AMS applicationcan be locally stored on a gamer's computing device (e.g., desktopcomputer or gaming console) or on a remote server managed by a serviceprovider of the AMS application or by a service provider that provides“Cloud” storing services. Comparison results can similarly be stored ona gamer's local computing device or a remote server.

In yet another embodiment, the AMS application can be adapted to alertusers when a particular gamer has achieved certain performance criteriaestablished by another gamer. For instance, the AMS application canpresent a GUI to a gamer to identify performance criteria of interest(e.g., number of kill hits, average hit rate for a particular weapon, aparticular ranking of a gamer for a particular gaming application,etc.). The identified performance criteria can be monitored by the AMSapplication for the selected gamer and when one or more criteria havebeen achieved by the monitored gamer, the AMS application can alert theinterested user by suitable communication means such as email, shortmessaging system (SMS) text message, or a GUI of the AMS applicationwhen the interested user is engaging the AMS application.

In another embodiment, the AMS application can compare the performanceof the gamers to a community rating localized to users of the gamingconsole 206, or all or a portion of on-line users which can span a largecommunity of users of the gaming application. For example, although anaverage hit rate of 5% for a sniper rifle may seem low for gamer #1 inFIG. 11, when these statistics are compared to other members of acommunity (e.g., other professional players), the AMS application candetermine from prior performance records of members of the community(retrieved from a local or remote database) that the user's performanceis in fact above average. Similar community comparisons can be performedfor the weapon type “machine gun” and “hand gun”. The AMS applicationcan also monitor and track statistics of other gaming applications whichmay have different weapon types. Similar statistics can be generated andcompared to the performance of members of a community to which the gameris associated.

In one embodiment, the statistical results shown in FIGS. 11-14 can beused to identify behavioral and/or skill patterns of a gamer. Forinstance, suppose a gamer appears to perform well as a sniper in onegaming application and bow and arrow marksman in a different gamingapplication. The AMS application can be adapted to detect thesecorrelations to indicate a skill set of the gamer that may be consistentbetween different games. For example, a sniper and bowman have a similartrait that requires marksmanship, calm nerves, and knowing when tostrike. This trait can be identified by the AMS application and can beused to identify other games in which the gamer may perform well. Thistrait can also be advertised to other gamers to promote teams.

The methods of FIGS. 5-7 can be adapted to operate in whole or in partin a gaming accessory, in an operating system of a computer, in a gamingconsole, in a gaming application that generates the video game, in adongle, or any other suitable software application and/or device.

The method of FIG. 7 can be adapted to ignore or filter game actionresults, which may not be relevant to the gamer or analysts. Forinstance, the AMS application can be adapted to ignore (or filter) gameaction results relating to navigation of the avatar (e.g., turn around,jump, etc.). The AMS application can also be adapted to ignore (orfilter) game action results relating to preparatory actions such asreloading a gun, switching between weapons, and so on. In anotherembodiment, the AMS application can be adapted to selectively monitoronly particular game result actions such as misses, non-kill hits,kills, and life of the avatar. The AMS application can also be adaptedto monitor gaming action results with or without temporal dataassociated with the stimuli and game action results.

In one embodiment, the AMS application can be adapted to track stimuli(or substitutions thereof) by submission order, and order of gamingaction results supplied by the gaming application, and performcataloguing thereof by the respective order of stimuli and gaming actionresults. The items can be catalogued by the AMS application with orwithout temporal data.

In one embodiment, the AMS application can be adapted to collect gamingaction results for “all” or a substantial portion of stimuli (orsubstitutions thereof) transmitted to the gaming application. In thisembodiment, the AMS application can be adapted to enable a gamer toreplay portions of the game to allow the gamer to visualize (in slowmotion, still shots, or regular play speed) the actions taken by thegamer (i.e., accessory stimuli and/or substitute stimuli) to help thegamer identify areas of the game where his/her performance can beimproved.

In one embodiment, the AMS application can be implemented as adistributed system (e.g., one or more servers executing one or morevirtual machines) enabling multiples users to control aspects of the AMSapplication. For example, in a tournament setting, gaming analystshaving access to the AMS application can request a replay of portions ofthe game to demonstrate exceptional plays versus missed plays at aJumboTron™ display. The gamers can access the AMS application toestablish new substitute stimuli, perform calibrations on macros, orinvoke or create additional gaming profiles. Portions of the AMSapplication can also be implemented by equipment of unaffiliated partiesor service providers of gaming services.

In one embodiment, the AMS application can be adapted to substitute anaccessory stimulus (or stimuli) for a macro comprising a combination ofsubstitute stimuli, and track the macro when gaming action results arereceived from the gaming application rather than track each individualsubstitute stimulus of the macro. The AMS application can be adapted tomonitor macros by tracking an order of stimuli (or substitutes)associated with the macro that are transmitted to the gaming applicationand by tracking an order of gaming action results received from thegaming application, which are associated with the macro. Alternatively,or in combination the AMS application can add a unique identifier to thesubstitute stimuli to identify the stimuli as being associated with themacro.

The AMS application can be adapted to catalogue the gaming actionresults associated with the macro in a manner that allows the gamer toidentify a group of gaming action results as being associated with themacro. The AMS application can also be adapted to collect sufficientdata to assess each individual gaming action result of the macro (e.g.,temporal data, hits, misses, etc.). The presentation of catalogued macrodata can be hierarchical. For example, the AMS application can present aparticular macro by way of a high level GUI that indicates the macrocaused a kill. The AMS application can be adapted to enable the gamer toselect a different GUI that enables the user to visualize a gamingaction result for each stimulus of the macro to determine how effectivethe macro was in performing the kill, and whether further adjustments ofthe macro might improve the gamer's performance.

In one embodiment, the AMS application can be adapted to present more orless competitive information than is shown in FIGS. 11-14. In oneembodiment, for example, the AMS application can be adapted to presentcompetitive information without the virtual peripherals. In one example,the AMS application can be adapted to present scrollable pages ofcompetitive information with or without the virtual peripherals. Inanother illustration, the AMS application can be adapted to presentcompetitive information without a viewing of the game or the gamer.Other variants of presenting competitive information or other data shownin FIGS. 11-14 are contemplated by the present disclosure.

The foregoing embodiments are a subset of possible embodimentscontemplated by the present disclosure. Other suitable modifications canbe applied to the present disclosure.

FIG. 15 depicts an exemplary diagrammatic representation of a machine inthe form of a computer system 1500 within which a set of instructions,when executed, may cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethods discussed above. One or more instances of the machine canoperate as any of devices depicted in FIGS. 1-3. In some embodiments,the machine may be connected (e.g., using a network) to other machines.In a networked deployment, the machine may operate in the capacity of aserver or a client user machine in server-client user networkenvironment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed)network environment.

The machine may comprise a server computer, a client user computer, apersonal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a smart phone, a laptop computer, adesktop computer, a control system, a network router, switch or bridge,or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential orotherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. It will beunderstood that a communication device of the present disclosureincludes broadly any electronic device that provides voice, video ordata communication. Further, while a single machine is illustrated, theterm “machine” shall also be taken to include any collection of machinesthat individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) ofinstructions to perform any one or more of the methods discussed herein.

The computer system 1500 may include a processor 1502 (e.g., a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU, or both), a mainmemory 1504 and a static memory 1506, which communicate with each othervia a bus 1508. The computer system 1500 may further include a videodisplay unit 1510 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), a flat panel,or a solid state display. The computer system 1500 may include an inputdevice 1512 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device 1514 (e.g., amouse), a disk drive unit 1516, a signal generation device 1518 (e.g., aspeaker or remote control) and a network interface device 1520.

The disk drive unit 1516 may include a tangible computer-readablestorage medium 1522 on which is stored one or more sets of instructions(e.g., software 1524) embodying any one or more of the methods orfunctions described herein, including those methods illustrated above.The instructions 1524 may also reside, completely or at least partially,within the main memory 1504, the static memory 1506, and/or within theprocessor 1502 during execution thereof by the computer system 1500. Themain memory 1504 and the processor 1502 also may constitute tangiblecomputer-readable storage media.

Dedicated hardware implementations including, but not limited to,application specific integrated circuits, programmable logic arrays andother hardware devices can likewise be constructed to implement themethods described herein. Applications that may include the apparatusand systems of various embodiments broadly include a variety ofelectronic and computer systems. Some embodiments implement functions intwo or more specific interconnected hardware modules or devices withrelated control and data signals communicated between and through themodules, or as portions of an application-specific integrated circuit.Thus, the example system is applicable to software, firmware, andhardware implementations.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure, themethods described herein are intended for operation as software programsrunning on a computer processor. Furthermore, software implementationscan include, but not limited to, distributed processing orcomponent/object distributed processing, parallel processing, or virtualmachine processing can also be constructed to implement the methodsdescribed herein.

While the tangible computer-readable storage medium 622 is shown in anexample embodiment to be a single medium, the term “tangiblecomputer-readable storage medium” should be taken to include a singlemedium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database,and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets ofinstructions. The term “tangible computer-readable storage medium” shallalso be taken to include any non-transitory medium that is capable ofstoring or encoding a set of instructions for execution by the machineand that cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methods ofthe present disclosure.

The term “tangible computer-readable storage medium” shall accordinglybe taken to include, but not be limited to: solid-state memories such asa memory card or other package that houses one or more read-only(non-volatile) memories, random access memories, or other re-writable(volatile) memories, a magneto-optical or optical medium such as a diskor tape, or other tangible media which can be used to store information.Accordingly, the disclosure is considered to include any one or more ofa tangible computer-readable storage medium, as listed herein andincluding art-recognized equivalents and successor media, in which thesoftware implementations herein are stored.

Although the present specification describes components and functionsimplemented in the embodiments with reference to particular standardsand protocols, the disclosure is not limited to such standards andprotocols. Each of the standards for Internet and other packet switchednetwork transmission (e.g., TCP/IP, UDP/IP, HTML, HTTP) representexamples of the state of the art. Such standards are from time-to-timesuperseded by faster or more efficient equivalents having essentiallythe same functions. Wireless standards for device detection (e.g.,RFID), short-range communications (e.g., Bluetooth, WiFi, Zigbee), andlong-range communications (e.g., WiMAX, GSM, CDMA, LTE) are contemplatedfor use by computer system 1500.

The illustrations of embodiments described herein are intended toprovide a general understanding of the structure of various embodiments,and they are not intended to serve as a complete description of all theelements and features of apparatus and systems that might make use ofthe structures described herein. Many other embodiments will be apparentto those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. Otherembodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom, such that structuraland logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing fromthe scope of this disclosure. Figures are also merely representationaland may not be drawn to scale. Certain proportions thereof may beexaggerated, while others may be minimized. Accordingly, thespecification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative ratherthan a restrictive sense.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement calculated toachieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodimentsshown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations orvariations of various embodiments. Combinations of the aboveembodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein,are contemplated by the present disclosure.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided with the understanding thatit will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of theclaims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can beseen that various features are grouped together in a single embodimentfor the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method ofdisclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that theclaimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited ineach claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subjectmatter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment.Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the DetailedDescription, with each claim standing on its own as a separately claimedsubject matter.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: comparing, by a system including a processor, first and second groups of stimulus signals associated with a playing of a video game; determining, by the system, a first performance measure of a first gamer controlling a first gaming accessory device, and a second performance measure of a second gamer controlling a second gaming accessory device according to the comparing; and generating, by the system, a graphical user interface including one or more performance factors determined from one of the first performance measure, the second performance measure, or both to provide a competitive comparison between the first gamer and the second gamer.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining of the first and second performance measures is during the playing of the video game.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the comparing is based on utilization of objects in the video game.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the graphical user interface indicates actuation of elements of the first and second gaming accessory devices in conjunction with the one or more performance factors.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the graphical user interface comprises a playback session of a recorded segment of the playing of the video game.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein functions of the first and second gaming accessory devices are illuminated in the graphical user interface according to a color scheme.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the color scheme indicates a frequency of use of each of the functions.
 8. A system, comprising: a memory that stores executable instructions; and a processor coupled with the memory, wherein the processor, responsive to executing the instructions, performs operations comprising: comparing stimulus signals from different gaming accessory devices that are associated with a playing of a video game; determining performance measures of gamers controlling the different gaming accessory devices according to the comparing; and generating a graphical user interface including one or more performance factors determined from at least some of the performance measures to provide a competitive comparison between the gamers.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the comparing is based on utilization of objects in the video game.
 10. The system of claim 8, wherein the determining of the performance measures is during the playing of the video game.
 11. The system of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise presenting on a display device the graphical user interface during the playing of the video game.
 12. The system of claim 8, wherein the graphical user interface indicates actuation of elements of the different gaming accessory devices in conjunction with the one or more performance factors.
 13. The system of claim 8, wherein the graphical user interface comprises a playback session of a recorded segment of the playing of the video game.
 14. The system of claim 8, wherein functions of the different gaming accessory devices are illuminated in the graphical user interface according to a color scheme.
 15. The system of claim 8, wherein the color scheme indicates a frequency of use of each of the functions.
 16. A method comprising: comparing, by a system including a processor, stimulus signals from different gaming accessory devices that are associated with a playing of a video game; determining, by the system, performance measures of gamers controlling the different gaming accessory devices according to the comparing; and generating, by the system, a graphical user interface including one or more performance factors determined from at least some of the performance measures to provide a competitive comparison between the gamers; presenting, by the system in the graphical user interface, a first illumination of one or more functions of a first gaming accessory device based on a first portion of the stimulus signals; and presenting, by the system in the graphical user interface, a second illumination of one or more functions of a second gaming accessory device based on a second portion of the stimulus signals.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the comparing is based on utilization of objects in the video game.
 18. The method of claim 16, wherein the determining of the performance measures is during the playing of the video game.
 19. The method of claim 16, further comprising presenting the graphical user interface on a display device during the playing of the video game.
 20. The method of claim 16, wherein the graphical user interface comprises a playback session of a recorded segment of the playing of the video game. 